1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method of testing a droplet discharge device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Inkjet heads and other droplet discharge devices are widely known. Droplet discharge devices discharge droplets from a nozzle and cause a liquid to accurately adhere to a target position. So that the liquid accurately adheres to the target position, the nozzle must be formed in a position as designed, and the droplet discharge device must be manufactured so that the droplet is discharged from the nozzle in the direction of the design. Therefore, the position of the nozzle of the droplet discharge device, the discharge angle of the droplets discharged from the nozzle, and other aspects are tested after the droplet discharge device is manufactured.
Testing methods such as that shown in FIG. 24 are used in conventional testing of droplet discharge devices. In this testing method, a transparent test sheet 300 is provided at a position of distance d from a droplet discharge device 301, and a CCD camera 302 is provided on the rear side of the test sheet 300. Droplets are discharged from a nozzle 303 formed in the droplet discharge device 301, and a liquid 304 adheres to the test sheet 300. Once the liquid 304 has adhered to the test sheet 300, the nozzle 303 and the adhered liquid 304 are photographed by the CCD camera 302. The photographed image is processed to detect the position of the nozzle 303 and the position where the liquid 304 adheres. Next, the horizontal deviation L of the position where the liquid 304 adhered and the position of the nozzle 303 is calculated. Once the deviation L is calculated, the discharge angle θ is calculated from distance d and deviation L. The data of the calculated nozzle position and discharge angle are fed back into the manufacturing process to enable the manufacture of droplet discharge devices of a high precision.